IPL 2022: Former Royal Challengers Bangalore captain, and their talisman batsman, Virat Kohli has got the fans of the franchise buzzing with his latest social media post.
With just three days out from the tournament’s opening game – defending champions Chennai Super Kings taking on runner-up Kolkata Knight Riders – Virat Kohli’s latest post has fired up the RCB fans and have given them a perhaps a prequel of what storm is to come this season.
Virat Kohli posted a photo of him celebrating a century from the 2016 season at RCB’s home ground, M Chinnaswamy Stadium. His arms aloft, acknowledging the standing ovation of the crowd, having entertained them in one of his sizzling knocks.
Virat Kohli addressed his excitement and anticipation for the upcoming season: “Not too long to go now,” he captioned the post.
Here’s ‘King’ Kohli’s post that has got the fans excited to watch the 33-year-old back in action:
Not too long to go now
pic.twitter.com/CzFOYqf53M
— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) March 23, 2022
Kohli’s fans are really hoping for the star batter to have a behemoth season as he did in 2016, when he shattered number of records, amassing an unprecedented 973 runs, with the help of 4 thunderous centuries.
Virat Kohli has in recent seasons come under criticism. Apart from failing to win the title, his batting approach has been questioned: although Kohli has scored over 400 runs each in the past two seasons, his strike rate of less than 122 has been highly questionable, especially as he slows down after the powerplay and doesn’t really pick up until the death overs, at times getting out and putting the other batters under more pressure.
This time, though, with the pressure and burden of captaincy released, Virat Kohli could return to his beast mode.
“Renewed energy because I am off a lot of responsibilities and duties. Life is in a very good place, we have a child now, we have a family. It’s about watching my child grow and doing what I love that is playing cricket. My focus is so clear now and it is so precise on what I want to do,” Kohli said in a recent RCB podcast.
Faf du Plessis, the former South African skipper and a key contributor to CSK’s title-winning campaign last season, has been appointed as the new RCB captain. RCB will kick off their season on March 27, against Punjab Kings at the DY Patil Stadium.
